05 May 2006
A Scottish council and its partners are seeking a power that could pave the way for a legally backed authority to co-ordinate services, including those administered by other public agencies.
Fife Council and members of the current Fife Partnership want to apply for a ministerial order that would make the area's community planning partnership a legally constituted body, the first of its kind in Scotland.
This could create a 'super' authority with wider powers. Fife Council chief executive Douglas Sinclair told Public Finance that an incorporated Fife Partnership would be a foundation 'on which to build'.
He added: 'I think it's the start of a process and a sign of trust and confidence within the partnership that they want to take it to the next stage. It's an enormously exciting project that would take community planning to a higher level and add real value to our common public sector boundary.'
This fits with Finance Minister Tom McCabe's aim of promoting more joined-up government, involving local authorities and bodies such as health boards, local enterprise companies, and fire and police boards.
Community planning in Scotland under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 requires councils to plan jointly services such as health, drugs and alcohol issues, community safety and regeneration.
At present, each of the partner bodies that provides different services remains separately accountable, but if the current partnership became a legally constituted body in its own right it would be collectively responsible for the spending of £1.8m regeneration funding.
Under the proposals, the partnership would be the single employer for all staff engaged in community planning activities and would be the single statutory body responsible for child protection.
In a document submitted to Fife Council, Sinclair says responsibility for child protection is currently shared between the council, Fife Constabulary, NHS Fife and the voluntary sector.
He states: 'Each agency has its own separate reporting lines. But there is no one statutory body which can monitor and evaluate and hold to account the contribution of each of the partners in fulfilling their child projection responsibilities and working together.
'An incorporated Fife Partnership, because it would be a statutory body, could fulfil this crucial and important task.”
PFmay2006
